Introduction

My guardian, Marcus Thorne, kept me in a life of lavish control, a gilded cage where my every thought was observed.

On my 18th birthday, my innocent declaration of love shattered his carefully constructed world, unleashing a chilling rage I never knew he possessed.

He deemed me "impure," and I woke up in Serenity Pines, a so-called "wellness retreat" that was, in truth, a brutal asylum.

There were no therapists, only orderlies who subjected me to "hydrotherapy" and "quiet rooms" designed to break me down, piece by painful piece, until I was a terrified, compliant shadow.

I was not his ward, but his twisted tribute, a living doll molded to resemble Lydia, his deceased college sweetheart, an injustice that clawed at my soul.

Then, a terminal cancer diagnosis offered a strange, unexpected peace; with nothing left to lose, what more could he possibly take?

My final demand was simple: to marry a forgotten boy from my past and finally escape his magnificent prison.

With a desperate plan and my last ounce of defiance, I ran, knowing that my freedom would come at a devastating, ultimate price.